Turning Inwards

 

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Turning Inwards

One has to go inward. We have roamed all over in our worldly life long enough – it is time to turn inward! We should start having the taste of the inner now. And once we have tasted the inner then there is nothing in the outer world that will fascinate us anymore. Once we have seen the inner beauty, the outer world simply pales away, it is reduced to nothing; it is only a reflection.

If we have seen the real moon, who bothers about the moon’s reflection in a mirror? The outer world is just a reflection of the inner. The mind may create trouble. The mind will say – “What is happening? What are you doing? This way you will be isolated, you will become alone, you will be cut off from people.”

The mind will find so many excuses to go out again – don’t listen. We are not being cut off from people; we are only getting connected with our own inner being. And when one is oneself, when one is joined with oneself, then only can one be with others; there is no other way. If we are not ourselves, if we have not known what our inner reality is, all our relationships are just bogus, just games to keep us occupied… they are of no value. The real relationship arises only when we are rooted, centred, in our own being. Then we can spread our hands, then we can embrace somebody and we can love. And that love will have a totally different flavour – the flavour of freedom.

We shouldn’t be distracted by the mind. The mind is the devil in the old scriptures? We have read that Jesus was tempted by the devil. That devil is none other than the mind, the old name for the mind, a mythological name for the mind. It always tempts, it always says, “Go out – do this, be that. Don’t waste your time sitting and gazing at your navel.” Inwardness is not an accepted value in the world of the mind because they are polar opposites. If we turn inwards, the mind has to die. The mind can exist only if we remain in the outer world and never come within. So, beware! The devil will tempt us. And the devil is not somewhere else; it is just our mind.

If one is alert, slowly, slowly, one understands that there is no need to be distracted by the mind. And once we have entered into our own being, there is no fear; then the mind cannot do anything. Then the mind becomes a beautiful servant. The mind is a beautiful servant but a very ugly master. Remember this!

The Present Moment

 

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The Present Moment

Swamiji always tell us to stay in the present moment, but we keep vacillating between the past and the present. Swamiji’s entire stress is on the present moment, because reality lies in the moment. – that is the only reality. If we ponder – for even the past to exist as a memory, now is needed. It doesn’t exist as the past; it exists as a thought in the present. Similarly true of the future – the future does not exist as the future; it exists as our imagination in the present moment. All that exists, exists in the now. Now is the only time there is and to become more and more alert about now is to become aware of the presence of God.

Our present is crushed between our thoughts of the past and our fertile imagination about the future. We never learn to live in the present – always vacillating like a pendulum from the past to the future. Our present becomes negligible or non-existent as the past and future occupy our mind space.

If we think of the past, it is long - our past, then the society’s past, then humanity’s past, then the past of life on earth and then the earth’s past, and then the sun and the moon and the stars; it is infinite. And so is the future infinite - it will go on and on. Compared to the past and future, the present seems almost nothing – it is just a small point, atomic – and between these two it is almost lost track of. And that is the only reality; everything else is unreal compared to it.

If we see a rose flower, we see it in the now. If we smell it, we smell it in the now. If we feel and touch it, we touch it in the now. We cannot touch the rose flower in the future and we cannot smell the rose flower in the past. But if we start thinking of past and future, then the rose flower is there and yet is not there; it disappears.

In meditation think about a rose beautiful rose flower – we will feel its presence and get its fragrance in our nostrils too. Now think of some ugly event from the past, immediately our mind gets clouded, the fragrance disappears. The flower is there, but our mind has gone away – a screen of memory has come between us and the flower.

The whole work of meditation is nothing but this: how to become utterly present in the present, how to collect oneself in the now. Then everything is beautiful. Then walking is meditation, sitting is meditation, talking is meditation, listening is meditation, because whether we walk or sit, it is always now; whether we are silent or talking it is always now. There is only one time. Now is eternity.

And the day we start living in the present 24 x 7 – that will be the day of enlightenment. It does not mean that our mind will not go to the past or future, it will but it will go in full awareness of the present.

Spirituality in the Digital World

 

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Spirituality in the Digital World

Is the digital world a hindrance on the spiritual path? I have heard this question many times – the problem is not digital; the problem is with us and how we use the digital world. The problem is our mind, our heart. If our mind can change, no matter what happens to us, we will be fine! We have all seen how Swamiji who came from the Himalayas has used the digital platform to take Samarpan to all corners of the world!

We come to the spiritual path for various reasons, but once on the path do we get the quality of meditation that is required to progress. Not really, for many of us we are doing it because so and so told us to, our mind is not yet on it. It is like hunger, if we are truly famished, we cannot resist eating whatever is on the plate and find it to be tasty too! If our mind is calm it is filled with energy and we can tune in to universal energy. But the mind cannot be calm as it is always agitated. Various thoughts come – that is the nature of the mind.

The mind is like nature and nature abhors a vacuum. If we try to create a vacuum, air tries to rush in. The nature of the mind is if we try to make it quiet, more thoughts come to it. For beginners, the way to a calm mind is by focusing on the breath. This breath is so important. We can live without water for some time, without food for some time, but We cannot live without breath for half a minute, normally, unless we are great yogis who do not need to breathe. We can’t!

There is a story about Lahiri Mahasaya who lives on the banks of the Ganga, in Benaras. His friend’s son became a doctor and the friend told the son to go to Benaras and take the sages blessings. The son went to Benaras and introduced himself seeking his blessings. Lahiri asked him what are the symptoms of death? The youth replied, “First the breath stops, pulse stops. After a while the solar plexus becomes cold. If these symptoms are there, the person is declared clinically dead.”

Lahiri said, “With your stethoscope please check my pulse after two minutes.” He then shut his eyes and went into a trance. After two minutes the doctor checked his breath and heartbeat – both were absent, he put his hand on the solar plexus and felt it going cold. He panicked and started shouting that this man has died in front of me. The family members told him not to worry, that he will return. After some time, Lahiri opened his eyes – only great yogis can do that.

When we concentrate on our breath, our mind becomes occupied with the breath and the thoughts stop. Watch the breath going in and coming out. Now what has happened! We are not keeping the mind unoccupied; we are keeping the mind occupied with the breath. Therefore, it is free of other occupations. In the rhythm of breathing, the breath slows down remarkably.

The slower the breath, the slower the movement of the mind. And finally, we begin to enjoy that quietness of the slow breath with complete attention. We get hooked to the enjoyment inside, therefore we become free of the enjoyment outside. And as we are not engaged outside, we are able to go deeper into our mind.

As we go to deeper recesses of our mind, to the core of our consciousness, we suddenly discover that we are not this body but something else. We may call it 'jiva', we may call it 'rooh', or any other different name. This is the essence of our being which is in us, which is a spark of the divine.

Awareness and Superficiality

 

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Awareness and Superficiality

When we become aware, then everything becomes superficial, outside us. When a moment of awareness is there, then nothing is deep; everything is outer and superficial because we are standing at the innermost core of our being. From that vantage point everything is superficial. For example, suppose we are sitting on the balcony of our house. It is not on the outer or superficial, but from inside the house it will be just on the boundary, on the surface.

The more aware we become the more things will become superficial. One can become scared sometimes, because even love will look superficial. If we watch and are alert, then whatever we do will look like acting, because we are no longer identified with it. It is no longer an act, but just acting.

So, a really aware person becomes an actor on the great stage of the world. He is never in anything deeply. He cannot be, because something transcendental is always there. Whatever he is doing he is always far away. Not that he is not authentic. He is, but he is so deep himself that nothing can be deeper; anything relative is superficial. This is a good insight. Nourish and enjoy it more, and don’t start condemning because then we will miss the whole point. Don’t start saying that this is superficial and that nothing deeper is coming – there is nothing deeper.

When consciousness is there, that is the most profound and the deepest thing there is. Even if God is standing there, He will be superficial, because He cannot be deeper than our awareness. He will be an object of awareness, just like any other object. Our consciousness is depth itself, unending depth. So, it has been a good insight.

Now we should try to live it twenty-four hours a day. Accept it, and not condemn it. It is beautiful, and everything will look superficial and appear like acting. Just become aware and act in the moment every day; by and by we will become pure awareness.

Creating a Protective Aura

 

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Creating a Protective Aura

Let’s try an experiment. Every night before we go to sleep, just sit on the bed and imagine an aura around the body, just six inches away from our body, the same shape as the body, surrounding us, protecting us. It will become a shield. Let’s do it for four, five minutes, and then, still feeling it, go to sleep. Fall into sleep imagining that aura like a blanket around us which protects us, so that no tension can enter from the outside, no thought can enter from the outside; no outside vibrations can enter us. Just feeling that aura fall asleep.

This is the last thing to be done at night. After it, simply go to sleep so the feeling continues in our unconscious. That is the whole thing. The whole mechanism is that we start by consciously imagining, then we start falling asleep. By and by when we are on the threshold of sleep, a little imagination continues, lingers on. We fall asleep, but that little imagination enters the unconscious. That becomes a tremendous force and energy.

Our problem is on the outside, not within. We don’t have a protective aura. It happens to many people, because we don’t know how to protect ourselves from others. Others are not only there – they are broadcasting their existence continuously in subtle vibrations. If a tense person passes by us, he is simply throwing arrows of tension all around – not particularly addressed to us; he is simply throwing. And he is unconscious; he is not doing it to anybody knowingly. He has to throw it because he is too burdened. He will go mad if he doesn’t throw it. It is not that he has decided to throw it. It is overflowing. It is too much and he cannot contain it, so it goes on overflowing.

Somebody passes by us and he goes on throwing something. If we are receptive and we don’t have a protective aura…. and meditation makes one receptive, very receptive. So, when we are alone, it is good. When we are surrounded by meditative people, very good. But when we are in the world, in the marketplace, and people are not meditative but are very tense, anxious, and have a thousand and one problems on their mind, then we just start getting them. And we are vulnerable. Meditation makes one very soft, so whatever comes, enters.

After meditation one has to create a protective aura. Sometimes it happens automatically, sometimes it doesn’t. If it is not happening automatically, we have to work for it. It will be coming within three months. Any time between three weeks and three months, we will start feeling very, very, powerful. So, in the night, fall asleep thinking this way.

We can solve our own problems, that’s easy – but when we absorb somebody else’s negative energy, that is very difficult to get rid of, because we have no clue as to what is happening.

So, creating a protective aura with regular meditation is a must, for some it is automatic, for others one works towards it. Once it happens, we are completely protected. Wherever we go, nothing will enter within, we will be safe and emit our own positivity.

Meditation and Mind Games

 

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Meditation and Mind Games

We should make meditation the first thing in our daily schedule, and not the last. Then when we feel that now it is not an effort, when we can sit for an hour together completely immersed in breathing – aware, attentive – when we only know this, that we have achieved attention of breathing without any effort; when we are relaxed and enjoying it without any forcing, then we have attained it. Then add something else – for example, walking.

We should remember both; then go on adding things. After a certain period, we will be capable of being aware of our breath continuously, even in sleep. And unless we are aware even in sleep, we will not be able to know the depth. But as we progress deeply, this comes.

The mind will give us a wrong start. So, always remember to begin rightly, because rightly begun means half done. But we start wrongly. We know very well that attention is a difficult thing. This is because we are totally asleep. So, if we start being attentive to breathing while we are doing something else, we cannot do it.

Beware of what the mind says. Do not be too trusting of the mind. And we are never doubtful. We can doubt everyone but we never doubt our own minds. Even those who talk so much of scepticism, of doubt, of reason, even they never doubt their own minds. And our mind has brought us to the state we are in.

If we are in a hell, our mind has brought us to this hell, and we never doubt this guide. We can doubt any teacher, any master, but we never doubt our mind. With unflinching faith, we move with our mind as our guru. And our mind has brought us to this mess that we are in. If we are going to doubt anything, first we should doubt our own mind. And whenever our mind says something, think twice.

Is it true that we do not have any time? Really? We do not have any time to meditate – to give half an hour to meditation? Think twice. Ask the mind again and again, “Is this the case, don’t I have any time?”

People are continuously on social media, playing games on phones, chatting, playing cards, watching movies, and so on – and they don’t have time to meditate! They kill time doing all kinds of things – but half an hour in a day is a huge time problem! When we do find the time to meditate and get used to it, we find out that slowly the mind dissolves, and as this happens, the mind becomes alert and tells us – where do we have the time to meditate? And even if there is time, there are so many far more important things to take care of – don’t meditate, take care of these things first!

The moment we go deep in meditation, we will not survive on this earth at least – we will disappear. From the circle of this life, this wheel, we will disappear. Meditation is like death, so the mind becomes afraid.

Meditation is like love, so the mind becomes afraid. “Postpone,” it says, and we can go on postponing ad infinitum. Our mind is always saying things like this. And this blog is not for others, it is for all of US….those who are on the spiritual path!

Spiritual Helplessness

 

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Spiritual Helplessness

Authentic power lies in the hands of God who created the world and, having created, admires it. It is all in His hands. All strength, all power lies in His hands. Become weak, helpless, we will get His support. If we are strong, we need no support. God is the strength of the weak and helpless. If we become helpless here, God awaits us there; but He belongs to the weak, not to the strong.

The strong do not need Him; they believe in helping themselves. They deny God from all their endeavours, their arrogance is still strong. They do not feel the need of God’s help.

Realising our worth and taking shelter in the Lord’s grace, we have infinite power and wealth to back us. We can move mountains provided we keep our trust in God and are fully conscious of our own insignificant strength. We have seen this practically and experienced it when we do Swamiji’s programmes – the programmes are great and till the last moment everything is dangling, and then suddenly everything falls into place like magic. That is God’s will – our will is tested and we are found wanting, then we pray with a clean heart, and things just happen.

No sooner do we become helpless, then the fountain of the supreme strength begins to flow for us. As long as we rely on our own strength and give it importance, our power is not worth a penny. Therefore, Guru Nanak keeps repeating again and again: neither this has the power nor that… he is depriving you of all your strength. Therefore, I say, the Satguru snatches things away from us; he does not give. He takes away everything, he makes us helpless, he makes us weak.

He leaves us in the state of a person in the middle of a desert, dying of thirst and no water anywhere. At the moment of the thirst that arises out of this helplessness – that moment we shall attain. We will call out, “Oh Paramatma, please help!” and there He will be! When we are completely helpless, we get the supreme help.

And remember - there is no one high, no one low here. Therefore, do not worry about anything else. Before Him, all are equal, all are the same. So, do not fear that the strong will reach, or the virtuous will reach, or the benefactors, or those who meditate, will reach first. There is no one high and no one low here. If we feel the difference of high and low, it is entirely our own doing; it is not because of Him. If we lose ourselves entirely, we shall rise high; if we save ourselves, we shall be low.

For divine blessings to flow we need to surrender completely, unconditionally, become completely void and then the flow starts – just bathe in it!

What Makes Our Guru Happy?

 

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What Makes Our Guru Happy?

The Guru always wants us to meditate, be compassionate and show gratitude – we should ask ourselves - do we do this on an ongoing basis? Whenever we are meditative, we feel blissful; whenever we are in compassion, we feel ecstatic. And then gratitude arises - not towards anyone in particular, gratitude just arises. We feel so grateful just for being here, just for being alive, just for being able to be meditative, just for being able to be in compassion. We feel simply grateful. That gratefulness is not towards anybody, it is towards the whole and the whole (cosmos) is represented by our Guru.

If we feel grateful towards our Guru, it is a gratitude of the mind. If we meditate and if we flower in compassion, we will feel simply grateful, not grateful towards the Guru. Then there is no “towards” - we feel simply grateful towards all. And when we feel grateful towards all, that is really gratefulness towards the Guru, never before it. When it is a choice, we choose the Guru; then our Guru becomes limited, and not the whole.

When we really flower then our fragrance is not addressed to anybody; when we really flower the fragrance goes in all directions. It simply moves in all directions, and whoever passes near us, is filled with our fragrance, he carries our fragrance. And if nobody passes us, then on that silent, lonely path our fragrance goes on spreading - but it is not addressed.

Remember, the mind is always addressed; the being is never addressed. The mind is always moving towards something; the being is simply moving towards all. It is a movement without any goal. A goal exists because of motive - we move towards something because there is desire. When there is no desire, how can one move? Movement is there but no motivation.

Then we move in all directions, then we overflow. Then our Guru is everywhere; then Swamiji is everywhere. And only when this point comes are we free from the Guru also. Then we are freed of all relationship, we are freed of all presence, of all bondage. And that is what Swamiji is telling us – become free, become your own Guru.

One thing we can do Swamiji - drop this mind, we should allow our being to flower; then we will be fragrant. Then in all dimensions and directions the whole will be happy. We will be bliss and our gratitude will not be narrow. It will not be towards a point, it will be moving all over, everywhere. Only then do we achieve prayer. This gratitude towards the whole, as represented by Swamiji, is prayer.

When we go in a temple and pray, it is not prayer; but when, after compassion, gratitude arises, the whole existence becomes the temple. Whatever we touch, it becomes a prayer; whatever we do, it becomes filled with prayer. We cannot be otherwise.

Deeply rooted, anchored in meditation, deeply flowing into compassion, we cannot be otherwise. We become prayer, we become gratitude. When we reach this stage, Swamiji’s objective of making each disciple a Guru is achieved – that gives Him the greatest happiness.

Love and Awareness

 

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Love and Awareness

Love and awareness are the highest form of polarity – just like man/woman, life/death, darkness/light, summer/winter, outer/inner, yin/yang, the body and the soul, the creation and the creator. Love and awareness are the highest form of polarity, the last polarity, at which transcendence happens.

Love needs two. It is a relationship, it is outgoing, it is energy moving outwards. There is an object: the beloved. The object becomes more important than oneself. Our joy is in the object. If our beloved is happy, we are happy; we become part of the object. There is a kind of dependence, and the other is needed. Without the other we will feel lonely.

Awareness is just being with oneself in utter aloneness, just being alert. It is not a relationship, the other is not needed at all. It is not outgoing, it is introversive. Love is the movement of the light out of our being. Awareness is the reverse movement, the backward movement of the light to the source again, returning to the source.

The child has to get lost in the world to become a child again. The innocence has to go into all the turmoil of cunningness and calculation of worldly living to become really innocent again. A child is innocent, but his innocence is that of ignorance. A saint is also innocent, but his innocence is not of ignorance but of experience, of ripeness, of maturity. He is again innocent, but that again has great importance – he cannot be distracted from his innocence anymore.

The child is bound to get distracted: every Adam has to leave the Garden of Eden, the world of innocence. Every Adam has to go into the world, into the mud of it, because only there will we mature, will we ripen. Only there will we learn, only there will we see in contrast the beauty of innocence, will we understand the splendour of innocence. The day we have learned the beauty of innocence, we have become aware of it, we will have returned home.

Love is a must for spiritual growth. And, moreover, love functions as a mirror. It is very difficult to know oneself unless we have looked at our face in the eyes of someone who loves us. Just as we have to look in the mirror to see our physical face, we have to look in the mirror of love to see our spiritual face. Love is a spiritual mirror. It nourishes us, it integrates us, it makes us ready for the inner journey, it reminds us of our original face. Love is not as valuable as freedom is. 

Love is a great value, but not higher than freedom. So, one would like to be loving, but one would not like to be imprisoned by love. The less one possesses, the closer one feels to the other. If we don’t possess at all, if there is freedom flowing between the lovers, there is great love.

Finding and Sharing Eternal Bliss

 

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Finding and Sharing Eternal Bliss

The spiritual search starts as a seeking for eternal bliss, as a seeking for eternal liberation, as a seeking for divine light and divine life. But the centre remains within us. In the beginning it is a self-centred search. Whatever we are seeking, we are seeking for ourselves. This self-centeredness ultimately will prove a barrier, because we cannot be in total ecstasy if we are self-centred.

This self-centeredness is a deep hindrance, but in the beginning, it is bound to be so. It’s natural that one should start the search for oneself. There is no other way. We cannot start for someone else. It has to be self-centred in the beginning, but it must not be so in the end. In the beginning it is okay. In the end it is dangerous. A point comes where our self-centeredness must cease. Only then our being will flower into total bliss.

It is just like this - we take breath in, we inhale. This is half a breath. We also have to exhale. That is the other half. And both breaths – inhaling and exhaling – make it a circle, a total breath. If we think only about inhaling, and we see no point in exhaling – “What is the use?” – we will die. Inhaling, which is necessary for life, will become dangerous for life if there is no exhaling. The breath must be released.

The same happens when we start receiving blissful moments, when we start receiving ecstatic moments, when the eternal starts pouring into us. The first thing is inhaling – we will inhale blissfulness – but then, exhale it. Otherwise, we will die of our own blissfulness. That blissfulness will become poisonous. Exhale it, distribute it, give it to others. When we feel that we are filled with bliss, express it. Share it; don’t try to conserve it within the self. This is just like a pond which does not have water flowing into it – it is good till the water is fresh, it gives joy to those who bathe in it; but after a couple of months the water starts becoming stale and becomes a breeding ground for insects, thus causing harm to those who bathe in it. The water has become poisonous!

Don’t force it, don’t make it a point that it is our own. Don’t try to own it; allow it to be shared with everyone. Really, celebrate it in such a way that the whole existence shares it. A flower blooms and the perfume spreads. The winds take it away, far away, to the far comers of the earth. We should allow our perfume, our bliss, to be carried far away from us, to be shared, to be shared by existence itself.

Why? Because then bliss has become total: inhaling and exhaling both. It becomes a circle. And the more we distribute it, the more we get. The more we throw it away, the more we find it, because now we are in contact with the infinite source.

Follow Your Inner Voice

 

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Follow Your Inner Voice

We live on two levels. One is the periphery: the world of action. The other is the inner being, the world of no-action: the world of existence, not of doing. All that we do is on the periphery and all that we are is at the centre. We have to continuously move from the centre to the periphery to do something. Whenever we are doing something, we are on the periphery.

Whatsoever we are doing, we are on the periphery. When we are not doing anything, then we are at the centre. Witnessing is a non-action. Meditation is non-action. When we sit for meditation, we are on the periphery, we watch our breath, chant mantras, and so on – we are doing something, and then suddenly we get a meditative state, we are not there, we have connected with our innermost core – the centre of our being. This centre is our witness.

Once we know this centre, once we recognise this centre, once we have felt this centre – follow the orders. We will be directed; we have found our master. Now follow whatever is said to us from the centre and don’t listen to the periphery. The periphery is cultivated by others and our centre is untouched, virgin; it is from the divine.

But first, find the witness. Jesus has said, “First seek ye the kingdom of God. Then all else will follow.” Don’t bother about other things. First find out the innermost core of the kingdom of God. Then we need not worry about anything; all else will follow. Just follow the inner voice. We don’t know what the inner voice is, we don’t know what the inner is. Society has confused us deeply. It goes on saying that its own voice is our inner voice. It has placed many voices in us just to control us from within. It is a social need.

Society controls us in two ways. One, by outer arrangements: the policeman on the street, the court, the judge, the law, the government. This is the outer arrangement, but it is not enough. We can deceive the law; we can manipulate the court. And the policeman, of course, is just another human being. So that arrangement is not enough.

No matter what we say is true, the contradictory is also true somewhere; it is not absolute. Now that we have become aware of the whole complexity of the human conscience, we know that our conscience is just a social product. So many societies exist together that the inner policeman has become weak. Make the inner policeman strong through meditation.

The inner voice will direct us. Its directions will be absolutely different from what society says – absolutely different. But for the first time we will become religious, not simply moral. We will be moral in a much deeper sense. Morality will not be a duty; it will not be something imposed upon us. It will not be a burden; it will be spontaneous.

We will be good, naturally good. We will not become thieves – not because society says, “Don’t be a thief,” but because we cannot be. We will not kill because it is impossible. We love life so much now that violence becomes impossible. It is not a moral code; it is an inner direction. We affirm life, we revere life. A deep reverence comes to us, and through that reverence everything follows.

Don’t try to be a Guru

 

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Don’t try to be a Guru

It is impossible to help others till we have obtained some certainty of our own. Resist the temptation to help others. It is detrimental unless we have obtained some certainty of our own. Don’t try to be a guru, don’t try to be a helper, because we will disturb the balance; we will create more problems.

Just remember that we cannot help, we cannot guide anyone unless we have got the inner light.  When the inner light is there, the help, the guidance, will flow from within. Resist the temptation. The temptation is great, because the ego feels very fulfilled. Someone comes to ask for our advice. The temptation is there to give advice without knowing what we are doing, without being aware that we don’t know.

If someone asks us whether God exists, we are not strong enough to say, “I don’t know.” We say something. Either we say, “Yes. God exists. I am a believer,” or we say “No, God does not exist. I am a disbeliever,” but in both cases we give advice. In both cases we confirm something that we don’t know.

For the spiritual seeker we should remember a very basic, very significant point: whatsoever we really know, confirm only that. If we don’t know, it is better to say, “I don’t know.”

If we go to a philosopher and ask one question, he will give a hundred answers. And with absolute conviction that this is so. If someone says something else, he will say – “hell, he is wrong!’”

That’s why philosophy leads nowhere. Answers and answers and answers leading nowhere. Answering so much and not even answering a single question. The basic thing is lacking: the philosopher is not strong enough to say – “I don’t know.”

The scientist is stronger. He can say, “I don’t know.” And even when he says, “I know,” he says, “Up until now this has been true. But I cannot say anything about tomorrow. Things may change, many new facts may become known and then the truth will have to be readjusted.”

Yoga is also a science; it is not a philosophy. Meditation is a science: it is not a philosophy. We should not guide others unless we have a certain knowledge, a certain experience. And even then, tell others that, “This is my experience. It may not be so for you. It is how I have come to it. Your way may differ; it may not prove true for you. So don’t take my advice blindly. You can experiment with it. It is an open experiment.”

Then you can be of some help. Otherwise, we can create disturbances. Don’t get tempted. We should not advise unless we really know. Don’t guide. First be a disciple; don’t try to be a Guru. If that has to happen, it will. 

When our discipleship has become complete and total, the Guru will emerge from within us. But not before that moment, not before that time.

Bliss - the Inward Journey

 

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Bliss - the Inward Journey

We can conquer the whole world and we will remain miserable; of course, our misery will become a thousand-fold – the misery of an Alexander is bound to be tremendous… but we never become happy. That is not the way of happiness at all. Bliss that comes out of conquering oneself - that is the only bliss there is.

We can have all the things and we will still be at a loss. One can pile up money, power, prestige. And the more we have, the more we become aware of the futility of it all and the more we feel an inner emptiness.

Only the rich come to know what inner poverty is, because they can compare; they can compare notes. They have a background and they can see their own inner poverty against it. He is rich as far as the outside is concerned, but the inside is simply starving.

Hence the paradox: the richer one becomes, the poorer one feels. The more knowledgeable one becomes the more ignorant one feels. The more we have, the more we become aware of how much we are missing.

The only bliss possible is that which comes through the inward journey – and that is called jaya. One has to come to one’s own self, to one’s own treasures. They are infinite… immeasurable. Once known, we are never going to be beggars again. We may not have anything of the world – still we remain as emperors. Our emperor-hood has an inner luminousness.

We are emperors – not because we have a kingdom, but because we are emperors. Our emperor-hood doesn’t depend on a kingdom. It is independent of all kingdoms. Then one is truly a king, because nobody can rob one, nobody can take anything away from one… not even death.

One has something which is eternal, which cannot be robbed, cannot be taken away. And only when we have something which cannot be taken away from us; does fear disappear – never before it. And in those moments, we start feeling  deathless.

Just be in the world but to give more and more energy and time to the inner search. Do whatever is needed on the outside, but don’t become too much occupied with it.

Outer things are needed, but they are not enough. Fulfil them, but don’t expect too much out of them. They are needs, and the inner life is something more than needs – it is a luxury. The inner life is always aristocratic.

So, on the outside we should just fulfil our needs – and they are the minimum; they are not much. And once they are fulfilled, don’t waste time. In fact, they are to be fulfilled so that we can have time to go in. One should work in the world so that one can work in one’s inner world. One should earn a little money so that outer things no more trouble one, don’t distract us anymore. 

One can close one’s eyes and go into meditation. If money serves meditation, money is good and one should use it. But if money becomes our meditation, we are going to be neurotic.

Be Alert of your Ego

 

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Be Alert of your Ego

Many of us get the sense of becoming empty in Swamiji’s proximity, we become egoless in His presence as we are in His aura. The moment we move away from the proximity maybe after an event or even after any meeting, we return to reality, that is when we realise that our ego is present in all its glory. If we make a goal of becoming egoless, we will never lose our ego. The moment it becomes a goal, the goal itself becomes a representative of the ego. Just think about this – “If I have to become egoless, then who is this ‘I’ that should be egoless?” This ‘I’ is nothing but our ego. So, the first thing, don’t make it a goal. Any goal will feed the ego - even the goal of being egoless.

When we are egoless, we should enjoy it; when we feel the ego again, be alert – but don’t expect the contrary. If we start expecting we will be more entangled with the same thing. Whenever egoless-ness is there - enjoy it, feel grateful, thank God, and when the ego comes again, be alert.

Soon, as we start becoming more and more egoless, less and less ego will return. And a moment will come when the ego will disappear, but don’t make it a goal. All goals belong to the ego. Secondly, don’t expect anything, because when we start expecting, we have moved from the here and now into the future. When we start expecting something we have started to bring our memory, our past, into the present. This very moment we feel egoless – it is okay.

Then this feeling goes, and the ego returns. We want to repeat the past again – we must be egoless. We project the past in the future and we miss the present. And remember, egoless-ness is possible only if we are here and now. If we move into the past, if we move into the future, the ego will persist. So, don’t ask for any constancy because constancy means we want to continue the past into the future. Remain with the moment and don’t expect anything. The ego will drop by itself, no other effort is needed. If the ego has moved it means we are not in the present. So, don’t fight with the ego, simply move into the present and the ego will drop.

When we are in Swamiji’s presence we feel that we are totally in the present, in the here and now. Actually, we are! We should not think that Swamiji is doing this to us; yes, it is in his aura and that is only the reason for it – we are actually doing it to ourselves. We should try and understand this, else it will become a crutch for us and we will become totally dependent on Swamiji’s energy – we should use that energy to elevate ourselves.

The same can happen anywhere. Remember the secret. If we love Swamiji, if we listen to Him deeply, if we are in His presence here and now, receptive, open, then we are in the present. That’s why for a few seconds the ego will disappear. Then our existence is void. If we can be in the present anywhere, our ego will disappear.

Going Astray

 

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Going Astray

Don’t create any conflict about going astray and being centred. Float. If we create a conflict, if we become afraid of going astray, then there is more possibility that we will go astray – because whatsoever we try to suppress becomes very significant. Whatsoever we try to deny becomes very attractive. So, don’t create any condemnation of going astray. In fact, go with it.

If it is happening, allow it to happen; there is nothing wrong in it. There must be something in it, and that’s why it is happening. Sometimes even going astray is good. A person who really wants to remain centred should not be worried about centring. If we worry about it, the very worry itself will never allow us to be centred, because worrying can never be centred – we need a non-worried mind, an unworried mind. So, going astray is good, there is nothing wrong in it.

Stop fighting with existence. Stop all conflict and the idea of conquering – surrender. And when one surrenders, what can one do? If the mind goes astray, we go with it; if it doesn’t go, that too is okay. Sometimes we will be centred, and sometimes we will not. But deep down we will always remain centred because there is no worry. Is this understood? Otherwise, everything can become a worry. Then going astray becomes just like a sin one is not to commit – then the problem is created again.

If Adam was allowed to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge there would have been no problem, but the Jewish god wouldn’t allow it. It was a small thing, isn’t it? and children are to be forgiven. It was just curiosity – and God Himself was responsible for the curiosity; He created it in the first place.

The moment He said, ’Don’t eat from this tree,’ He helped Adam to go astray. And when he fell a victim, he was thrown out. Never create any duality within the self. If we decide to always be true, then there will be an attraction to be untrue. If we decide to be non-violent, then violence will become the sin. If we decide to be celibate, then sex will become the sin.

If we try to be centred, going astray will become a sin – that’s how all religions have become rigid telling us - ‘do this, don’t do this’. Accept, go astray – there is nothing wrong in it.

Going Deep Within

 

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Going Deep Within

There are many sadhaks who have suddenly gone into deep meditation which felt like death, and have returned in fear of death. Suddenly a key fits, and one is transported into infinity, and then the experience of deep meditation is exactly like death. The problem is created because one gets scared. Meditation leads us deep into our own self. Beyond a certain point it is felt like drowning, sinking, suffocating. If we accept it and cooperate with it and simply say that we are ready to die, then we don’t create the opposite process of trying to come out of it. Then there comes a peak where all disturbance disappears.

Something happens – but we are still there. In fact, for the first time, we are there – and everything becomes blissful. Before it comes to the peak there is pain and anguish, and it is natural that one starts thinking about how to get out of it somehow. In the getting out, that cooperation is broken, so we are moving now in two ways. Something we have done in meditation is taking us deep, while we are trying to cling to the surface. In that confusion and conflict, the whole body feels the turbulence.

It was not really because of the experience, but because we create this conflict. This phenomenon has to be faced one day by anyone who is moving into meditation; there is no way to avoid it. When it happens one naturally becomes afraid to meditate again. When it happens for the first time, it is natural to feel the fear – but don’t be afraid, hold on to Swamiji’s locket and have faith in Swamiji as you cross the threshold into nothingness. Simply say that we are ready to die, and relax; sink, and allow it. Once we allow it, the whole of the energy is moving in one direction so there is no inner conflict; and because there is no conflict there is no anxiety. The whole body will feel rejuvenated. Otherwise, we create a disturbance.

It is just as when we are driving a car. We go on pushing the accelerator, and at the same time we brake: the whole engine feels the shock because we are doing two contradictory things – racing and braking simultaneously. That’s what we have done. The meditation turns the energy inwards – and it is a tremendous experience, deeper than any death.

When it happens, it is like an explosion within and we feel the whole universe within us, and then there is just bliss, silence, bliss, silence, something that truly needs to be experienced – it is beyond words, beyond description!